The Wairarapa Age has reported that the electricity bill for a Masterton mother of three has skyrocketed from between $140-190 per month to $500-600 per month since the analogue meter was replaced with a “smart meter”.
No one is home between 8 am and 4 pm in her household and electricity use is modest. The family showers daily but does not use a heater.
Ms Henderson is quoted as saying:
“When we come home the kids will watch tele, I might do a couple of loads of washing and have a shower but apart from that we don’t use that much … it must be the Smart meter. It seems to be spinning all the time, even when there is nothing on. They reckon I use about 72-85kW per day. That’s just bull … ,”
The full story may be read at this link (but before you go to the link, please scroll down for a possible explanation why Ms Henderson’s bill has become so exorbitant):
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/wairarapa-times-age/news/article.cfm?c_id=1503414&objectid=11137868
Editor’s note: One reason why “smart meters” are associated with higher bills may be that “smart meters” can read not only the actual electricity that your lights, appliances etc consume, but “reactive power” which can be produced by devices (such as energy saving compact fluorescent light bulbs and many other modern appliances, including some of the new-style TVs) that contain “switch mode power supplies”. If this useless “reactive power” is added to your bill, your bill will go up. Devices that can contain switch mode power supplies may also produce harmonics or transients spikes in the wiring (known colloquially as “dirty electricity” or DE*) which is a health hazard. (Whether or not an appliance produces DE in household wiring depends upon how well its power supply has been engineered.)
Some modern appliances produce significant amounts of dirty electricity (DE) including energy saving light bulbs, many new TVs, some computers etc. (For more information DE please see this link: www.stopsmartmeters.org.nz/health-issues/ )
NB: It is also possible that Ms Henderson’s meter is simply faulty.
NB: For other consumer complaints from the USA and Canada about “smart meters” increasing bills please see the following:
http://www.wyomingnews.com/articles/2011/01/05/news/19local_01-05-11.txt
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